This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
In general, the human musculoskeletal system is composed of a variety of tissues including bone, ligaments, cartilage, muscle, and tendons. Tissue damage or deformity stemming from trauma, pathological degeneration, or congenital conditions often necessitates surgical intervention to restore function. Surgical intervention can include any surgical procedure that can restore function to the damaged tissue, which can require the use of one or more orthopedic prosthesis, such as orthopedic nails, screws, implants, etc., to restore function to the damaged tissue.
Generally, in order to stabilize various boney tissue relative to one another, such as vertebrae of the spine, one or more implants can be coupled to each of the vertebrae and interconnected via a suitable device. In one example, implants or anchors can be coupled to each of the vertebrae, and a connecting device, such as a rod, can be coupled to each of the anchors to stabilize or fix the vertebrae relative to each other. When rods and anchors are employed in a medical procedure to interconnect one or more implants, it may be desirable to provide a device suitable for in-situ measuring a distance between the implants or anchors, and thus determining the appropriate length of the interconnecting rod or anchor. Additionally, it may be desirable to provide a device suitable for measuring the distance between the implants or anchors when the longitudinal axes of the implants or anchors are not parallel.
While known devices may have proven suitable for their intended purposes, a continuous need for improvement remains in the relevant art.